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If you follow my Instagram account (@angie_lcc), you may already noticed that I am obsessed with sourdough baking the past few months. I have been experimenting with making sourdough with 100% spelt flour as I really love the nutty flavor and the fact that this ancient grain has a lower level of gluten, hence some people with milder gluten sensitivity may be able to enjoy it! Baking sourdough bread containing gluten was a completely new challenge for me and I love new challenges. I failed a number of times at the beginning due to poor shaping techniques, wrong hydration level, as well as leaving the dough too long for fermentation (as whole grain flour acts so much quicker than white bread flour). I also discovered that spelt flour of different brands differ in absorbing water, so you may need to adjust if you are not using the same brand as me in this recipe (I used Bob's Red Mill's light spelt and whole spelt flour).

Directions:

About 6-8 hours before you wish to make your sourdough bread, mix the ingredients of the levain in a clean glass jar. Leave it at the counter for 6-8 hours (depending on the temperature), or until double in size. I usually make the levain at around 11am-12nn so I can make this at night and bake in the morning.

When the levain is almost double in size, in a large mixing bowl, mix together whole spelt flour, light spelt flour and water. Autolyse the dough for at least one hour. While the dough is autolysing, soak the toasted sesame seeds in 15g of hot water to hydrate the seeds. This is to prevent the sesame seeds from drawing out water when added to the dough.

When the dough is ready, evenly sprinkle the salt on the dough, add the matcha powder, agave syrup and 105g of the levain you've prepared.

Mix using pincer method for around 10 minutes, until the dough is feeling strong and extensible.

Leave the dough on the counter, covering with a plastic wrap. Bulk ferment for 3.5 to 4 hours, while performing 4 sets of stretch and fold at 30-min intervals (i.e. at 30 min, 60 min, 90 min and 120 min after mixing the dough). Add the hydrated sesame seeds after the second set of stretch and fold.

After the bulk fermentation is done, carefully remove the dough from the bowl using wet hands and place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Pre-shape the dough and leave it for 15-20 mins.

Shape it into a batard, carefully transfer to a floured banneton. Place the banneton in an air-tight plastic bag and retard in the fridge overnight (I usually leave them in the fridge for 9-10 hours)

In the next morning, pre-heat your dutch oven in an oven at 250 degrees Celsius for an hour. Depending on the fermentation status of your dough (by performing finger poke test), place the dough at the counter 30-45mins before baking. Or you can bake it straight from the fridge if it's already ready.

Score and bake in a Dutch oven at 250 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, turn down the heat to 220 degrees Celsius and bake for another 15 minutes.

Now you made yourself a delicious sourdough, but you better wait until it was cooled completely before slicing it for better texture (I know it's hard!). Serve it with some vegan butter, jam, fresh fruits, vegan yogurt (recipe here), avocado or nut butter. Happy baking! :)

I remembered I first came across this eggplant caviar thing on the menu of a vegan restaurant few years ago and I was immediately obsessed with it. I start searching for the recipe on Pinterest afterwards and found that it was super simple to make, so I have been making this regularly. I love using it as a spread on homemade sourdough, massage into kale as dressings, or just use it as a dip for crackers or vegetable sticks.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200°C. Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise. Score the cut side of the eggplants in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife and poke the skin sides of the eggplants with the tines of a fork all over.

Place the halved eggplants, unpeeled garlic cloves and red bell pepper on a lined baking try with cut side down. Place in the oven and roast for 35 minutes, or until completely cooked through and very soft for the eggplants and garlic cloves and the skin of the bell pepper is darkened.

When the eggplants are cool enough to touch, use a fork to scoop the flesh of eggplants out, discarding the outer skins. For the bell pepper, carefully peel the charred outer skins and remove the stem and seeds.

Place the roasted garlic, eggplant and red bell pepper flesh, together with the other ingredients (except water), process until smooth. Add water if the mixture is too thick.

After posting photos of my breakfast bowls featuring some of my homemade almond milk yogurt, many of you asked me how to make it or where can I get the starter etc. So I think it will be good to write a blogpost about it :)

Vegan yogurts are very expensive in where I live. Also, it's very difficult to buy and only available in a few varieties, such as soy and coconut yogurt. As you all know, I love making everything by myself from scratch and I love fermenting things :P So I have started making my own vegan yogurt for at least 4 years now. And after some trail and errors, I'm proud to present you my fool-proof way in making a delicious and creamy vegan yogurt with no separation, not overly sour and easy to make. I know you are as excited as I am, so let's get started!

For the starter, I used capsules of vegan probiotic, you can buy them from local health food stores. I bought mine from iherb coz it's cheaper. Remember to choose the ones that are labeled vegan and shelf-stable.

I love to have them with my smoothie bowls, spread on homemade sourdough bread, chia pudding or use it to make Bircher muesli :) Such a great way to start your day with some fermented goodness!

Ingredients:Directions:

Rinse and drain the nuts or seeds of your choice and blend them with 2 cups of filtered water in a high-speed blender for 3-5 minutes or until totally smooth

Pour them over a nut mylk bag or cheese cloth to strain out the nuts or seeds (you don't need to strain it if you are using hemp seeds, as they will be too fine to strain)

Pour the strained nuts or seeds milk together with 1/2 tsp agar agar powder into a pot. Whisk and heat under medium-low heat until the mylk becomes nearly boiling but donut allow it to be rolling boil, that is, boil until when you see some tiny bubbles popping up in the surface. It should be creamy and thick.

Allow the yogurt mixture to cool down until it reaches 40 degrees Celsius. Or if you don't have a thermometer, cool until it's warm to touch.

Now open the probiotic capsules and stir the powder into the cooled yogurt mixture.

Add yogurt to a sterilized glass jar. Cover the glass jar with a towel and secure it by placing a rubber band around the lid.

Place the jar in a baking tray pan and place it into the oven, that is TURNED OFF, leaving the light on. Leave for 6 to 12 hours. And refrigerate overnight to allow it to thicken.

x

1 cup nuts or seeds* (soak in water overnight)

2 cups filtered water

1/2 tsp agar agar powder

2 capsules of vegan probiotics

1 clean glass jar

*I've tried using almonds, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, hemp seeds and they all work very well. My favorite one is hazelnut and brazil nut :)

** You can also replace the first two ingredients with 2 cups of coconut milk.

The other day the Neal's Yard Remedies sent me two packets of their superfood powder. The organic berry blend (aka radiance blend) and the organic greens blend (aka detox blend). I was super excited when I received these packets because a. I have long been a huge fan of Neal's Yard Remedies, and b. the blends consist of everything I love. The berry blend contains acai, blueberry, cherry and goji berry. The greens blend contains green tea, spinach, parsley and sea greens. I have been experimenting with different recipes using these two new blends and this black tahini acai bowl is definitely my favorite one. Most importantly, they are low in sugar as I didn't use any bananas in the recipe and the only fruit I used is blueberry.

I have been busy working on my upcoming book about vegan recipes, as well as some tips on how to run a marathon on a vegan diet. So I prefer having a filling, energising and huge breakfast to fuel me up, so that I can stay focused with improved productivity. And after trying out different breakfast food, this golden porridge is my favorite one that I can't wait to share the recipe with you, although I was supposed to be proof-reading my book right now :P This porridge is made with steel cut oats (aka my favorite kind of oats). I sprouted them by soaking in water overnight for better digestion and higher nutrition content.

If you are following my Instagram account (@angie_lcc), you might have already noticed that I have been having steel cut oats for breakfast quite a lot these days. I found myself crave less cold breakfast, such as smoothies or nice cream. Instead, I am having more cooked and warming breakfast for the past few weeks. Some people may find cooking steel cut oats to be a bit troublesome, as the cooking time is relatively long when compared to rolled oats. However, it is totally worth since steel cut oats have a more chewy texture, making you feel fuller for a longer time. The best thing about having steel cut oats for breakfast is that, I won't be craving for snacks between breakfast and lunch, unlike what usually happens when I have smoothies for breakfast. They are also perfect as pre-workout meals too!

This baked apple cinnamon steel cut oats is super easy to prepare and you only need ONE BOWL for that! All you need to do is to mix everything in a bowl, pour it into a baking tray and bake. Then you can already make a hearty, nutritious and delicious breakfast that serves 4 people. Just warm any leftovers in the morning for a quick and filling breakfast that can keep you energised for the whole morning :)

Direction:

Now add the almond milk, apples and your choice of dried fruits, stir again until the apples and dried fruits are evenly distributed.

Pour the mixture into a lined baking tray (mine is 10.5" x 7") and bake for 50 minutes or until the surface has become golden brown.

Remove from the oven. Let it cool for a bit before serving. You can keep the rest of the oats in an airtight container and place it inside the fridge for up to 5 days. Enjoy it cold or rewarm it on the stove top :)

As the temperature continues to drop, I love making more heart-warming and wholesome savoury dishes. People often ask me how do I cook certain vegetables, as they are hard to "taste good". Fennels and brussel sprouts are two popular ones among them. I personally enjoy them in whatever form :P But I think it would be a good idea to be whipping up a delicious plate with these two, together with one of my favorite ingredients of late - Turmeric. Turmeric is so nutritious to you that it has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant. I start incorporating them into my diets in the past few months, including sweet or savoury dishes, and I felt more energising :)

Some of you might already have noticed that I'm a huge obsession with chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). I love adding them to my salads, eating them alone or making pancakes and eggless omelette using chickpea flours. As the weather is getting cooler, I have been craving more for savoury food, and this means that I love snacking on savoury snacks as well! Therefore, I created this roasted chickpeas recipe so that I can snack on these scrumptious finger-licking good roasted chickpeas all day every day. These chickpeas are so simple to prepare and just a friendly reminder - you might want to double (or triple) this recipe when you make it for more than one person, as they are SO ADDICTIVE and one can easy finish everything in this recipe in one go. I'm not even kidding. They are amazing with rice, topped on salads, place in tortilla wraps or simple on an avocado toast. Now, get your hands on making this recipe and thank me later.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 tsp of smoked paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Juice of 1/2 lime

1 heaped Tbsp nutritional yeast

Pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180˚C

Rinse and drain the chickpeas.

In a medium bowl, add everything into the bowl and mix well.

Spread the chickpeas evenly on a lined baking tray and bake for 10 mins.

Slightly stir the chickpeas and return to the oven for another 5 minutes, or until the surface is slightly crispy.

Valentine's Day is coming soon. Do you want to surprise your lover with something healthy, beautiful and delicious? No worries, I got your back! Today, I will be sharing a simple Valentine's Day Vegan Parfait recipe with you today. It's simple, no baking required and most importantly, it looks good! Even if you don't have a valentine (yet), you can make it for yourself as a dessert or even breakfast (which I always do) :)

Directions:

For the beetroot tofu mousse, blend everything in a food processor until smooth, add more water or plant milk if the mixture is too thick. Pour the mixture into the bowl and keep it inside the fridge while you are making the nice cream.

In a high-speed blender, blend together the ingredients of the pitaya nice cream until smooth.

Choose your glass jar and assemble the layers. I place the beetroot tofu mousse at the bottom of the jar, followed by nice cream, some pitted cherries, and then tofu mousse, strawberries and finally another scoop of nice cream.

I have been busy over the past weekend as it was the Chinese New Year. It's a time for celebration, as well as time to catch up with your family and friends. In the past few days, I spent most of my time inside the kitchen testing out some new recipes and whipping up some comforting vegan dishes for my family and friends who came to visit me during the holiday. This comforting dahl dinner plate is a winner among all the dishes that everyone love it! It's so simple, delicious, nutritious (filled with plant-based protein) and gave you a warm hearty feeling during the cooler days. I kept the leftovers in the fridge and heat it with some chopped tempeh the next day, and it was absolutely amazing! This dish is definitely a perfect meal prep idea you would like to make ahead and pack it in your lunch box. It pairs perfectly with brown rice, sourdough bread (I had it with the miso seaweed gluten-free sourdough from Sourdough Diary) and buckwheat noodles!

Direction:

Heat a pot under medium heat, sautéed the onion with a splash of water until the onion become soften and caramelised.

Add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of red split lentils to the pot, bring to a boil. Stir occasionally to prevent the lentils from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Once the water has boiled, turn to low heat. Add the seasonings, spices and vegetables to the pot, stir until everything is incorporated. Cover and let it simmer for around 15 minutes or until the mixture is thickened and somewhat "starchy".

Once the mixture is thickened, taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve with sourdough bread, brown rice or noodles. Enjoy!

I have been looking for a vegan & gluten-free waffle recipe that does not only have the perfect texture, but also keeps well as I usually love to make them in a large batch and freeze them. So I can have waffles anytime I want without having to wait :P I tried so many recipes online, some do have a great texture. However, after freezing or leaving them on the counter for few hours, they will inevitably turn soggy. Therefore, I decided to experiment with my sourdough starter and create my own recipe :)

After several trial and errors, I'm super proud to share with you THE BEST SOURDOUGH WAFFLE recipe ever! These waffles are not only crunchy on the outside, fluffy inside, but they also freeze well. All you have to do is to heat them in the oven or toaster when you need them, and there you go with the best waffle you've ever tried!

As I have failed a coupon of times in making these waffles, I also included some of my tips to prevent the waffles from sticking on both sides and split while you open the waffle maker (the saddest tragedy ever :( ). Please follow the instructions as much as possible in order to make achieve the best result.Warning: Once you've had sourdough waffles, you can never go back to the ordinary ones. So try at your own risk haha! :P

Directions:

In the next morning, in a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp ground flaxseed with 6 Tbsp water, let is sit for at least 5 mins until it thickens. Add maple syrup, salt, baking powder, flax eggs, vanilla extract, and melted coconut oil to the sourdough starter mixture. Stir well until everything combined together. Let the batter sit 5-10 minutes before making the waffles.

Preheat your waffle maker.

Mix baking soda with 1 tsp water and gently stir into batter. Do not stir any more at this point.

When your waffle maker is preheated, gently brush both sides of the iron with some melted coconut oil. Close and heat the waffle maker for a further 2 minutes before adding in the batter. This is to ensure that the waffle irons are hot enough so that the waffle won't stick and split on both sides. Pour 1/2 cup of the batter onto the waffle iron and cook until desired crispness (mine took 5 minutes to cook).

For the topping, add every ingredients of the sautéed apple into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn to medium low heat, while keep stirring the apples to prevent them from burning. Cook until the apples are soft.